The Wild Man of the Navidad
Sublime, Lavaca County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A mysterious runaway Negro slave who alternately terrified and aroused pity of settlers in this region for about 15 years. The mysterious exile, at first with a companion, appeared along the Navidad bottoms about 1836. Hiding in trees during day, he stole into kitchens at night for food, but always left half. He also took tools, returning them later, brightly polished. Slaves called him "The thing that comes", fearing a ghost. Captured in 1851, the wild man proved to be an African chief's son. Resold into slavery, he died peacefully as "Old Jimbo" in 1884.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
For roughly fifteen years beginning about 1836, an elusive figure haunted the Navidad River bottoms of frontier Texas, slipping into settlers' kitchens by night for food yet always leaving half behind and returning borrowed tools polished bright. Enslaved people called him 'The thing that comes,' half fearing a ghost. Captured in 1851, he proved to be the son of an African chief, sold back into bondage, and lived out his days as 'Old Jimbo.' The tale blends folklore with the grim realities of slavery in antebellum Texas.
Why it matters
The legend preserves a rare, humanizing window onto the experience of the enslaved and the fears and superstitions of frontier communities before the Civil War.
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